MIIKE SNOW @ PALLADIUM

The pre-Halloween set by Swede electro dance rockers, Miike Snow, kept it eery. The show played like a dance club funeral procession celebrating the life of a macabre poet that met an untimely death. The band, dressed in all black, came out to greet the audience (and I use the term “greet” loosely because barely a banter was uttered) after several minutes of looming, single note keyboard, set against a simple black stage and piercing white light. It’s hard to say if this created excitement for the band to join the audience, or tension because this intro lasted way too long.

The crowd waited patiently, a good majority in costume, but was repeatedly fooled by an occasional inflection in the music. You could see heads rising to the stage then carrying on back to their drinking or adjusting of deer antlers when, alas, Miike Snow had yet to make themselves seen.

With this kind of build up, one hopes for reward. For the most part, Miike Snow delivered that reward but some intermittent issues with sound made the band really work for it. In addition to spotty technology, the 14-song set had its lilting moments. Front man, Andrew Wyatt, appeared fatigued, and frankly disinterested, at points. We get that it’s the end of a tour but, come on, this is the Palladium! And it’s packed full of your fans! Perhaps Wyatt was reacting to the particularly subdued crowd, who’d been lulled into a stupor by the never-ending intro. When he called out, “This is a fucking dance club isn’t it?” however, the audience ruffled their clown suits and fluorescent yellow wigs and danced dutifully.

Miike Snow didn’t make it particularly easy to dance tonight though. Their usual brand of indie pop was morphed into a more experimental version of their otherwise recognizable tracks. This set gave viewers an insight into the complexity of this clearly talented trio but may not have been what the audience was expecting.